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Sunday, 31 July 2011

Why I Love.......Embarrassing Bodies, Channel 4

Why I Love.....

According to Channel 4's latest press release the show and its associated website is relieving some of the pressure on the ailing NHS to the tune of £283,000. A figure that's helpfully quantified as 16,677 pairs of crutches or 2,024 self-propelled wheelchairs, in case you had trouble understanding what the NHS might spend that princely sum on.

The website, developed in conjunction with NHS Direct is very useful for those red-cheek moments and potentially a life-saver, especially for men and women who are too shame-faced to visit their GP about potential testicular, prostate or breast cancer. The website shows you how to check various parts of your anatomy for all kinds of maladies, including swellings that shouldn't be there, bumps that definitely should be there and lots of photos that will have teenage boys and girls rapt for hours.

Wonky toes, inflamed pustules, growths and protuberances are the bread and butter of the Friday fright-night show. We’re so not the same: I don’t have bits sprouting out of my head, resembling men’s dangly bits, nor do I have a suppurating leg wound that threatens to stink out the surgery.

What surprises me the most is that anyone should ever want to appear on the show. We’re introduced to scores of patients who’ve not revealed their disgusting ailments to anyone, not even their doctors, who’ve hidden their secrets for years… who then peel off their underpants and show the entire Channel 4 demographic (and those who watch on 4OD) their naughty bits. One can only imagine the water-cooler conversations they’ll have once they return to work on Monday morning.

It’s shows like this that make me realise how normal I am. Yes I may have eyebrows that need plucking more than average, or perhaps slightly lopsided ears, but I, thankfully, don’t have any of the ailments that are given airtime here. And I thank my lucky stars for it every week.

If you, like me, can't get enough of this amusing, yet sometimes disconcerting freak-show and you're on Twitter, you can follow all three doctors.